


(Sometimes You Reach What's Realest by) Making Believe

by Robin Hood (kjack89)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 17:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16123370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood
Summary: “So. Where was I?”“About to explain how our own love story is anything but banal,” Rafael said archly, taking a sip of wine and looking at Sonny expectantly.Sonny cleared his throat. “Right,” he said, settling back against the couch. “So. Once upon a time—”“God, really?” Rafael interrupted, making a face.





	(Sometimes You Reach What's Realest by) Making Believe

**Author's Note:**

> This is short, short (and dumb) enough where I should probably just chuck it in my drabble collection and be done, but the fact of the matter is, this has ended up as one of the worst weeks for me personally, so...I appreciate your indulgence.
> 
> Usual disclaimer. Please be kind and tip your fanfic writers in the form of comments and/or kudos!

Rafael sighed as the music swelled over the end credits of the film he and Sonny had just watched. “That was two hours of my life I’ll never get back,” he said, stretching and glancing up at Sonny, who just rolled his eyes affectionately. **  
**

“C’mon, was it that bad?” he asked, mostly rhetorically, knowing far too well how Rafael felt about the romantic-comedies Sonny was wont to choose for movie night.

Rafael just shrugged and reluctantly sat up from where he’d spent the last hour curled half in Sonny’s lap. “It was slightly less banal than usual,” he allowed.

Sonny laughed. “I’ll take it.”

“Do you ever regret the fact that our love story isn’t epic enough to make it into one of your rom-coms?” Rafael asked, settling back against the couch cushions as Sonny stood and stretched.

Sonny frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Rafael said, rolling his eyes, “that our story is practically boring in comparison. We met through work, we started dating, the end. Hardly the stuff of epic romances right there.”

Sonny was staring at him with an incredulous look on his face. “I mean, sure, if that’s how you want to look at it,” he said. “But I think our love story is hugely epic when looked at the right way and told in the right way.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow. “And what way is that?” he asked, amused.

“Let me get us a refill on wine and then I’ll tell you,” Sonny said, grabbing their empty wine glasses on the table and disappearing rather inexplicably into the bedroom.

“Unless you’re keeping an emergency stash of wine in the bedroom—” Rafael started, and Sonny reappeared, rolling his eyes.

“Sorry I had to grab something,” he huffed, refilling both their glasses in the kitchen and returning to the couch. “So. Where was I?”

“About to explain how our own love story is anything but banal,” Rafael said archly, taking a sip of wine and looking at Sonny expectantly.

Sonny cleared his throat. “Right,” he said, settling back against the couch. “So. Once upon a time—”

“God, really?” Rafael interrupted, making a face.

Sonny’s eyes narrowed. “Are you gonna interrupt me all evening or are you gonna let me tell the fucking story?” Rafael mimed zipping his lips and Sonny huffed a laugh before repeating, “Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince. He was the smartest and most hardworking man in the whole kingdom of Manhattan.” Rafael snorted into his wine glass and Sonny gave him a dirty look even as he continued, “But the prince was lonely for something that work couldn’t fulfill, until one day, he met a noble knight.”

“With the world’s worst mustache,” Rafael added under his breath.

“With the best facial hair to ever grace a knight of the realm in the entire fifteen years leading up to this moment,” Sonny said primly.

Rafael chuckled and shook his head. “If this is the part where the noble knight rescues the prince—”

“But the prince took one look at the knight and was disgusted by how vulgar and low-born the knight appeared,” Sonny continued doggedly. “For the knight had not yet learned courtly manners, nor had the prince learned not to be such a fucking snob.”

“Rude,” Rafael said, before allowing, “but fair.”

Sonny smirked, taking it for the small victory that it was. “As the years went by, their feelings for each other grew from friendship to so much more, but the obstacles that stood between them being together were too great for either to conquer. The knight wanted the prince but feared his love would never be returned, so he—”

“Made the world’s worst dating choices in addition to the world’s worst facial hair choices,” Rafael muttered, still bitter over those lost year and pining for Sonny from afar — even if he’d never admit it out loud.

“So he let his despair get the better of him,” Sonny said, too softly to be joking, and Rafael couldn’t help but reach out for him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently. “And the prince knew despair of his own, for he saw the monsters of ambition and bureaucracy that kept him back from the knight. And he feared he would be alone forever.”

Rafael felt an unexpected lump of emotion in his chest and he cleared his throat to try and hide it. “And I suppose _this_ is the part where the knight rescues the prince?”

Sonny smiled at him, that soft half-smile that he saved for Rafael alone, its sweetness as dear to Rafael as the blinding grin that some days felt like it had filled his entire world with sunshine. “No,” he said simply. “This is when the prince realized that he could rescue himself, and he found a way to be free.”

It was perhaps the world’s stupidest extended metaphor and Rafael knew that he should be mocking it and Sonny mercilessly, but instead, he felt tears well in his eyes and he swallowed, hard, and tried to blink them away. “And then they lived happily ever after?” he asked, far too gently to even come close to the snark he usually aimed for at moments like this.

Sonny hesitated. “Well,” he said, pulling a small velvet box out of his pocket, “that depends on your answer to this question.”

Rafael stared from the ring box to Sonny, his mouth hanging open in shock. “Did you _plan_ this?” he spluttered, and Sonny had the audacity to laugh lightly.

“No, but what the hell kinda knight would I be if I didn’t seize the opportunity when I saw it?” Sonny asked, a little breathlessly, watching Rafael closely. “So what do you say?”

Rafael picked the ring box up slowly, opening it to reveal the simple platinum band within. He glanced up at Sonny, a small smile quirking at the corners of his mouth. “Happily ever after, hm?” he mused. “I think I could live with that.”

“Is that a yes?” Sonny asked with a grin.

“It would be, if you had ever actually asked me the question.”

Sonny rolled his eyes so hard it looked painful. “Rafael Barba, love of my life, prince of my heart—”

Rafael snorted. “Nope, try again.”

Sonny laughed. “Aw, c’mon, you didn’t like that?”

“I’d rather prefer to think back on this moment without wanting to vomit so, no,” Rafael said dryly. “So try it again, for real this time.”

Though Sonny sighed and rolled his eyes once more, he also leaned forward to pluck the ring box from Rafael’s hands before dutifully getting down on one knee. “Rafael Barba,” he started, and this time Rafael could hear the breath catch in his throat, just a little, and his own chest felt inexplicably tight. “No matter how you tell the story, I’ve only ever wanted it to the end the same way: you and me, spending the rest of our lives together. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Rafael said, with no hesitation. “God, of course yes.”

Sonny laughed and let Rafael pull him back onto the couch, kissing him until they were both breathless. “To happily ever after,” he teased, sliding the ring onto Rafael’s finger, but Rafael didn’t laugh, just kissing Sonny once more.

“To happily ever after.”


End file.
